Yumi Zouma at the Sinclair, 5/14
Mid-April is an odd time here in Boston. It’s a transitory period of sorts – college kids savor the calm before the soon-to-hit wave of finals, the slightest hints of flora begin to peek out from the long dormant trees, and the weather can’t ever seem to make up its mind. It’ll be sunny, pleasantly temperate, and utterly gorgeous one day, but drizzly, chilly, and drab the next.
Unfortunately, the weather fell into the latter category on the day that Yumi Zouma played at The Sinclair. I’d be lying if I said my spirits hadn’t been lowered a little by the hour long wait in the damp cold – thankfully nowhere near the worst that Boston has to offer though – but I quickly perked up when I saw the cute décor that had been set up: a tasteful string of fake flowers wrapped around the mic and instruments, as well as a sign with the band’s name written in green neon.
After a low-key opening set from up and coming indie folk musician Noso – quick side note here to mention that seeing fellow Asians take up space in the indie music sphere is incredible, and to check out their debut album due next month – the four members of Yumi Zouma took to the stage. They began their set with two crowd pleasers: Truth or Consequences highlight “Southwark,” and “Crush (It’s Late, Just Stay)” from 2018’s EP III, whose gentle groove lulled the crowd into a pleasant rhythm.
Although Yumi Zouma were touring in support of their latest record Present Tense, which had only been released just shy of a month earlier, they opted to play a varied selection from their eight year old discography. The first track of the night from Present Tense, “Where The Light Used To Lay,” was a brief departure from the band’s reverb-heavy dream pop style, veering into outright indie pop territory. The band followed up with “Cool For A Second” and “Right Track/Wrong Man,” two singles from Truth or Consequences. Lead vocalist and keyboardist Christie Simpson and guitarist Josh Burgess split vocal duties on “Right Track/Wrong Man,” and the resulting track was blissed out and subtly groovy.
“This song is called “In Camera”,” Simpson remarked as the band launched into their next track. If most of Yumi Zouma’s discography sounds like a pleasant holiday at the world’s most laid-back and indie-pilled tropical resort, then “In Camera” is what plays when a friend whisks you off to dance on the beach underneath the setting sun. It’s one of their bouncier and more energetic tunes, which is perhaps what prompted Burgess to suddenly flex his abilities, playing his guitar as he held it behind his back. As you might expect, the crowd took quite well to his showmanship, and cheered him on as he played.
After “Depths (Pt. 1),” Yumi Zouma finally played some more tunes from Present Tense, going on a consecutive 4 song run from the new album. “In The Eyes Of Our Love” had a notably faster tempo – honestly it’s outright indie rock – that really got the crowd moving, and “Astral Projection” – easily one of my favorite songs of the year – was just as good as I’d hoped it’d be live. For their final song of the night, Yumi Zouma reached all the way back to their first release, 2018’s aptly titled EP, for “The Brae.” Simpson and Burgess stood back to back as they sang together once again, with Simpson holding the mic for both of them to sing into.
I left The Sinclair feeling soothed and at ease, almost like I was floating on a cloud. Spring was just around the corner – what a wonderful show to usher it in!
